Virat Kohli's surprising refusal to take DRS despite inside edge and Gill's insistence leaves Rohit Sharma in disbelief: 'Bat laga tha yaar'

web editor  

As the umpire Richard Kettleborough's finger went up, Kohli quickly approached Shubman Gill at the non-striker's end, eager to discuss the decision. Known for his willingness to challenge decisions through reviews, Kohli surprisingly decided against it this time. After a brief conversation with Gill, Kohli headed back to the dressing room without wasting any time. Though Gill seemed to suggest taking the review with his words 'le lo' (take it), Kohli appeared convinced that he was trapped in front of the stumps.

But surprise, surprise. When the replay popped up on the big screen, to everyone's shock, a big spike was noticed on Ultra Edge – and a decent one at that – the moment the ball passed Kohli's bat, indicating there was bat involved. Was Kohli not aware of it? If anyone knows whether the ball has hit the bat or not it is the batter, Kohli in this case. Hence, for him to have not taken the DRS left everything in disbelief, including the on-air commentator and Kohli's former India head coach Ravi Shastri.

"Whoa! Only one person would have known. That is quite a spike there. He is not thinking of ball hitting the bat, that's for sure. He'll be really disappointed, was playing so well," Shastri said.

Could the ultra edge have erred? Or was it Kohli?

Of course, the Ultra Edge, like the ball tracking is not 100 percent accurate. But even if there was no edge, the spike should have been marginal. How could Kohli not have known? Well, irrespective, that was all from Kohli in the Chennai Test. Having scored six in the first innings and 17 here, his tally of runs in this series opener will be limited to 23.

Kohli's dismissal sent shockwaves in the Indian dressing room as well, as captain Rohit Sharma couldn't believe what he had seen. If anyone who's good at lip-reading saw Rohit, it was evident that he let out a sombre 'bat laga tha yaar' (There was bat involved dude).

This isn't the first time something like this has happened with Kohli. Another one of his similar brainfade moment dates back to the 2019 World Cup match between India and Pakistan in Manchester, when the then Indian captain fell to a similar dismissal. Well set for his century, Kohli was batting on 85 when he tried to waft a bouncer bowled by Mohammed Amir. The Pakistan team went up in appeal, umpire raised his finger and Kohli was on his way back. Things went on and after the next batter had taken strike, replay on the big screen showed that Kohli had in fact nicked it. At least back then, Kohli showed his frustration at missing out on DRS from the dressing room.

Kohli's dismissal meant that India head into stumps 81/3, with a solid lead of 308 runs over Bangladesh. A total of 17 wickets fell in the day - nine India's and 10 of Bengladesh. India resumed the day on 339/6 but could only add another 27 runs with Hasan Mahmud picking up his second Test five wicket haul and Taskin Ahmed chipping in with three wickets. India then made short work of the Bangladesh innings, dismissing them for 149, with Jasprit Bumrah leading the charge and finishing with 4/50. India's start to the second innings was slightly better than yesterday but Rohit Sharma endured another failure with the bat, while Jaiswal too perished for a low score. Gill, however, showed intent, remaining unbeaten on 33 in the company of Rishabh Pant.

Stay informed with the...